A corresponding decree from the Vatican Secretariat for Economic Affairs was published by the Vatican press office on Saturday afternoon.
It refers to an Apostolic Letter dated 1 June 2020 ("Regulations on transparency, control and competition in public procurement procedures").
It was last amended by a further decree on 16 January 2024 under Pope Francis.
Streamlining and simplification
The new decree was signed on 5 August 2025 by the Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, Spanish economist Maximino Caballero Ledo.
As these are merely implementing provisions and not a church law, the Pope's explicit approval was not required.
The course of tenders and award procedures is regulated in detail in 52 articles.
According to the Vatican, the aim of the new rules is to reconcile the objectives of transparency, control and competition with the need for a certain degree of streamlining and simplification.
Until now, the procurement procedure has been very time-consuming and cumbersome for private providers of goods and services, but also for the Vatican offices that award contracts.
The bureaucratic requirements were particularly high for all contracts that exceeded a sum of 150,000 euros. This limit has now been raised to 250,000 euros.
In addition, it is now easier for companies to form consortia and involve subcontractors for the processing of larger Vatican orders.